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Amazing Race doesn't object to lawyers as contestants
by Dan J Kroll
Posted Friday, January 30, 2009, 10:49:09 AM
by Henrik Batallones/BuddyTV.com
Do you object to reality shows? Of course not, or you wouldn't be reading this. There may, however, be objections raised during the running of The Amazing Race. This season will feature two attorneys -- who are also siblings. How will they do and why does The Amazing Race seem to have a love affair with lawyers?
Lawyers in reality shows aren't a novelty. It's an interesting thing, to think about it—these guys think like this and act like this and are like this, so throw them into the dynamic and boom! You have sown the seeds of potential conflict. The upcoming season of The Amazing Race is no exception, with the inclusion of sibling lawyers Tammy and Victor poised to stir the race in a pretty interesting way.
Here's the lowdown for the clueless: the two are both Harvard Law graduates, and are both pursuing careers in law. Tammy Jih, 27 (although the CBS website says 26), is an associate at a law firm in San Francisco; her older brother Victor, 35, is a partner in a prestigious law firm in Los Angeles. Their official biography states more than that—Tammy thinks her brother is a control freak; Victor thinks his sister can be immature and selfish.
“All of my life, I've just totally looked up to him and followed in his footsteps,” Tammy said. “But as we've gotten older, we just bicker all the time.”
“We're very close and we get along great,” Victor added. “I think with that closeness comes sort of the freedom to speak our mind with each other … The challenge, of course, though, is I don't think any big brother-little sister combination is designed to be locked in a room together.”
It was easy for them to get their respective employers' approvals—Victor even auditioned, albeit unsuccessfully, in the show's early years—and they aren't really concerned about being humiliated. They're a little worried, however, about how they fared with the clues. “We read our clues in a very detailed manner, and we basically attacked everything from every angle,” Tammy said. “We might've read our clues a little bit too much like lawyers sometimes, and said, ‘It doesn't say you can't do this...'”
They aren't the only lawyers in TAR's upcoming season. Well, not exactly—surely, you've heard of former cheerleaders Cara and Jaime? One of them is an aspiring law student, but deferred entry just to join the other in a race around the world.
Here's another lowdown for the clueless: the two met when they successfully tried out for slots in the Miami Dolphins cheerleading squad. The two made an instant connection, and remained friends after leaving the field. Cara Rosenthal, 26, now works at a non-profit, while Jaime Edmonson, 29, followed her parents' footsteps and became a police officer for a few years.
For Jaime, she wouldn't have done the race with anybody else. “[Cara] is the most competitive person I know,” she said. “I didn't want to do this with a family member or significant other. Those teams always get involved in their own issues instead of concentrating on the competition.”
Cara was willing to join her friend, even if it meant her holding off her ambitions. “Cara deferred law school on blind faith,” Jaime said. “I don't think I could have looked her in the face if we hadn't been chosen.”
They do say lawyers bring that analytical, competitive element to anything. With this season of The Amazing Race, we're getting two who are very much into the game, and two who have yet to take the plunge. Whatever happens next remains unknown—well, at least until season 14 premieres on February 15.
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